Remarks at the
Presentation Ceremony for the Small Business Person of the Year Awards

May 9, 1988

Well,
I'd like to welcome Senator Abdnor and the State
Small Business Persons of the Year, whom we're honoring today. And I think you
recognize my bodyguard here -- [laughter] -- the Vice President.

Now,
as some of you know, my admiration for President Calvin Coolidge has often been
remarked. ``Silent Cal'' didn't say much, but
when he did, his observations were simple and quietly eloquent. And he is
perhaps best remembered for his statement that ``the business of America is business.'' I'm
reluctant to tamper with President Coolidge's remarks, but a brief and
important addition might be this: ``The business of America is small business.''

All
of us can be very proud of the contributions of this nation's 18 million small
businesses. The record, quite simply, is incredible. Small business provides
well over two-thirds of all new jobs; about 40 percent of our aggregate
national output; the bulk of new products and technologies; most of the jobs
generated for younger, older, and female workers; and over 66 percent of all
first jobs, and, consequently, the initial on-the-job training in basic work skills.
And just to take one area, almost every energy-related innovation of this
century has come from small business, including the air conditioner, the
gasoline engine, and the electric light.

Today
about 13 million Americans are engaged in some entrepreneurial activity, either
full-time or part-time. The number of part-time entrepreneurs has increased
fivefold in recent years. We've seen in the past 5 years the longest unbroken
period of peacetime growth on record. The climate necessary to nurture small
business development has never been better.

Clearly
the economic policies of the 1980's, which have led to an unprecedented
turnaround in inflation, from 12 percent to about 4 percent, coupled with
commercial interest rates coming down by more than half since we took office,
have made it immensely easier to start up a small business and keep it going.

And
the 7th annual report on small business, which I am sending to the Congress
this week, shows the unparalleled growth of small business not only in the past
year but in each year since 1980. Small business has driven this country ahead
with over 4.4 million new business starts. And I'm especially pleased that
small business has been the first path of economic success for unprecedented
numbers of women and minorities, people who started small businesses and became
a part of America's economic mainstream.
And you can be sure small business had a large role in Friday's economic news.
Unemployment was down by two-tenths of 1 percent to 5.4 percent -- the lowest
rate since August of 1974.

During
the next 25 years small business will provide nearly three-fourths of the 43
million new jobs this country will require. Small business will meet this
challenge by virtue of its quicker response time, its flexibility, its
willingness to take risk, and its willingness to face the very real possibility
of failure. In the United States, we have the freedom to
fail as well as to win. It is this readiness to risk, this suspension of
disbelief as some call it, that sets us apart and drives us to new heights of
accomplishment.

Let
me leave you with this thought: Small business is about hopes and dreams. It's
about making dreams come true -- the dreams of men and women who lie awake at
night and consider how they can improve their lot in life. Those dreams, those
hopes, are a singular and great natural resource.

Today
I have the happy duty to announce the Small Business Persons of the Year. This
process, culminating in this selection, has been difficult and competitive.
There are many fine contestants, and they're to be heartily commended. As in
any event -- in business, in sports, in politics -- someone must be declared
the winner. Now, it doesn't mean necessarily that the other contestants have
lost, because all of them are winners in their own right and well worthy of
being finalists in this event. And that includes many of you who are here
today.

And
this 1988 Small Business Persons of the Year are Ben
Cohen and Jerry Greenfield. Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield truly stand out as
an example of what American free enterprise is all about. Just 10 years ago,
they gave up working for others and founded Ben and Jerry's Homemade, Inc.
Beginning with 2 employees in 1978, the company now employs 200, and the $8,000
in startup money now generates annual sales of $30 million, selling in grocery
stores in 35 States and in 45 ice cream parlors around the country. And now,
I'm going to quit talking and present the awards. Thank you,
and God bless you.

B

Reporter. Mr. President, will you continue to
allow astrology to play a part in the makeup of your daily schedule, sir?

The President. You asked for it. I
can't, because I never did.

Note: The President
spoke at 1:50 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White House.